The Phone Calls
by writergirl3005
Summary: "Smallville, you just got shot. You should be resting! Not doing farm chores!" - Lois' reaction to Clark getting shot in episode 5.03 - Hidden. Rewritten fic.


Lois couldn't describe the pain she felt when she heard that Clark had died.

It was Lana who had told her the news.

It had shaken her to her core. She knew that the Kents would be devastated and she needed to be there for them. So she began making plans to return to Smallville. She was just about to book her plane tickets when she received the news that Clark was alive after all.

Thank God for miracles. Her farmboy was still alive.

But she had to make sure that he stayed that way. Honestly, for a farmboy from a dinky little town, he got into way too many life-threatening situations. She needed to be there so that she could take care of him and protect him.

Lois knew that she had to find Lucy asap so that she could return to her farmboy minding duties and back to her home.

Home.

Odd how a small town that was only on the map due to the meteor showers had become home to her. But perhaps it wasn't the place, but the people. The Kents had opened up their hearts, and their home to her, and Lois would forever be grateful for that.

Hence the need to make sure that Clark stayed alive.

She called Chloe to tell her about the change in plans. Chloe was delighted. "I can't wait for you to come back, Lois!" she said.

"Yep, I'll be back soon I got a couple of good leads. if it all pans out, I'll be on a plane to Metropolis within two weeks."

"That's great, Lois!" said Chole. "Tell me when you're coming, I'll come and pick you up at the airport. We all miss you."

Lois smirked. "Even Smallville?"

"Even Clark," Chole confirmed. "Even though he wouldn't admit it over the pain of death."

"Chloe!" yelped Lois. "How could you say that when he just-" she broke off, unable to continue. Even when he knew that Clark was alright, the very mention of the word _death_ concerning Clark was still painful to her. She was sure that she'll get over it soon enough, but that won't come for several more weeks, if not months.

Chloe was instantly apologetic. "I'm sorry Lois, I didn't think. It's hard to believe that Clark had died; he's already back on his feet and has gotten back into the swing of things..." Chloe trailed off, obviously realising too late that she had said the wrong thing.

"What do you mean by 'He's getting back into the swing of things?" Lois asked. Her voice was flat; she struggled to keep her anger in check. Her cousin was not responsible for the stupidity of a certain farmboy after all.

"Erm, just forget that I said anything, alright?" said Chloe, trying to cover up her mistake. "I didn't-"

"Chloe, you may be my favourite cousin-"

"I'm your only cousin!"

"But if you don't tell me everything, and by that I mean everything, you are going to be very sorry," said Lois.

Lois was sure that she heard her cousin mutter, me and my big mouth.

* * *

Clark had been expecting a call from Lois for quite some time now. She was the only one who had yet to check up on him after his resurrection.

So when she called him, he picked up the call cheerfully. "Hi Lois, how are you?"

"Smallville, I've heard some disturbing things from a little blonde bird," she said.

Apprehension flooded him. "Erm, what do you mean Lois?" he asked. Chloe couldn't have spilt the beans on his secret this quickly, could she?

"I heard that not only were you shot, but you died on the operating table, and not even a week after that, you are back on your feet and working!"

"Um, that's supposed to be bad?" he asked. Clark had no idea how quickly a normal human would heal from a gunshot wound. He bet it would take much longer than a week though.

"My God, Smallville!" Lois exclaimed. Clark could easily picture her throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Are you stupid, or are you stupid? Need I remind you that. You. Were. Shot. It's not something that you could recover from in less than a week. And not after almost dying - or actually dying in your case - on the operating table."

"Lois, I'm fine," Clark tried to protest. "Really, I promise. You don't have to-"

"Smallville, I don't care how fine you are, you're not doing anything but rest for at least two weeks!" Lois snapped. "My God, even a dodo would have more self-preservation instincts than you!"

"Okay!" he said. There was no arguing with Lois when she got into this mood. "If it makes you happy, I'll stay off my feet." Lois was all the way in Europe. Germany, the last he heard. There was no way she'd know if-

"Make sure that you do, because I'll be calling regularly to check up on you Smallville, and at random times of the day! So, don't you dare think that you could sneak around by pretending that nothing had happened!"

Well, there goes that plan. There was nothing he could do other than go along with what Lois asked of him. It was better that way.

* * *

True to her word, Lois did call often, and at completely random times of the day. Even when going by the time zones, she should have been sleeping, so Clark didn't get any reprieve from that quarter.

There was also no way that Clark could lie about what he was doing. Lois had a talent for weaselling out any information from him, no matter how little he wanted to share it. She really would have been an excellent journalist.

It might have also had to do with the fact that he was horrible at lying to her (or at lying to anyone, really).

His parents were no help at all.

"It's alright son," Dad said. "You can take a break for a few days. Your Mom and I can handle things for a few days."

Clark was lounging on the sofa, flipping through one of his books when his phone rang again.

He sighed, knowing who it would be. "Hey, Lois," he said in a flat tone.

"Hey there, Smallville," said Lois, sounding way too cheerful. "What are you doing now?"

Clark sighed and rolled his eyes. "Still lying on the sofa. Just like I was when you called ten minutes ago."

There was silence at the other end of the line.

"Lois?" Clark asked.

When she finally spoke, she sounded as if she was doing her best to hold back her tears. "Clark, I know that you are annoyed by my calls, but this is something that I have to do. I almost lost you last week. You were actually dead for a short while. It's not something you can take lightly. I don't want to lose my best friend."

Clark bit his lip. He had known that Lois would have been upset with his close brush with death, but he hadn't realised how badly it had affected her. He resolved not to be too annoyed by her constant checks. Maybe he could help her a little by distracting her about his near death.

"I sorry, Lois," he said. "I will be better about this from now on. By the way, how is the search for Lucy going?"

It seemed as if Lois was just looking for a way to jump past the conversation about his death. She quickly launched into a monologue of what she had found so far. "It's going fairly well. I have a lead now; a good one. Lucy might be in Salzburg and the General, and I are going there to check it out in a couple of days."

Clark leaned back on the couch and let Lois ramble on. Perhaps by talking things over, she would be able to find her sister more easily.


End file.
